User Reviews

Overall Rating:

Value Rating:

Submitted by
Daniel
a AudioPhile

Date Reviewed: February 6, 2016

Bottom Line:

This is the best performing antenna!!! Period. If you are comparing this APS 13 FM antenna to a Wingard on a tuner with just average sensitivity and adjacent channel selectivity then you may not notice a difference. However, if you are comparing the two antennas on a Magnum Dynalab tuner or a Mcintosh MR 78 FM tuner then you will clearly notice a difference. I have exchanged this antenna out over 15 times and keep going back to it. Atmospheric conditions can change within seconds to just doing a casual comparison is not going to show you what this antenna is capable of. The FB ratio of over 30 db is true and so it the gain. The antenna is no longer manufactured just like most FM antennas, sadly to say. But all you have to do is get the measurements from one of the sites and build your own. My APS 13 has been through several storms so all I did was rip off the cheap elements and went to Lowes and bought aluminum screen molding and cut it to the exact measurements of the elements. I have built at least 4 home made FM antennas, including a Yagi over 24 feet long. Although, the one I build over 24 feet long was about the same as the APS, it was too heavy for my rotor. I also think the FB ratio on the APS 13 is a little better. I have used that antennacraft FM6 antenna, several Wingards, channel masters, etc. Nothing can touch the APS 13. Also, since I rebuilt it, the thing is indestructible. Happy listening.

If you've ever owned properly made antenna like a Channel Master or a Winegard you will not like this thing. If you're plum ga-ga about picking up your first radio station over 150 miles from your house then you'll love it and give it a good review.
Hey man, it's too light. When it first came out they included a piece of rope to support it and keep it from folding in half! Now they save 15 cents and don't give you the rope anymore!!
Mine is on a 68' tower and on the same mast as an HD6065 Winegard, the APS13 is 9' higher. My station is 250 miles from 2 major radio markets and I'm not seeing enough difference between these antennas to even mention. Storms have damaged it 3 times while the Winegard keeps on truckin'.

I live 210 miles from Indi and Cincinnati. My APS13 sat on a 58 foot tower 9 feet above an HD6065 Winegard. An A-B comparison between the two showed very little difference between them when picking up stations in these cities. There were stations that came in better on the APS and some that did better on the HD, my log book shows the're very close in performance. Notice I said "sat" on a 58 foot tower? That's because it's not "sitting" there anymore. Ice knocked it down a month ago. Every antenna on my place made it through the storm except this piece of crap. Electronically speaking they took a good antenna design and built it as cheap as they could. Once upon a time the maker of the 13 (or was it a 14 at the time?) included a length of rope to support it because they knew it was not strong enough. Now they're saving 15 cents and not even putting that in the box anymore.

The APS-13 is a very good antenna design, maybe the best out there. Don’t get too excited yet because while the performance might be good, the quality is a bit substandard. I was shocked to see that my $200 APS-13 was nothing more than an overgrown $25.00 Radio Shack FM-6. APS could have taken the high road and gone to a decent antenna cutter but instead they chose RS/Antennacraft who is known for manufacturing things to a price rather than to a standard. This 200” monster is made with the same ¾” square boom as it’s 70” Rat Shack cousin. The result is an antenna that droops slightly under it’s own weight. You get the identical cheap, blue plastic hubs used on other RS antennas and the same thin elements that are very bendable. Unlike the Winegard 6065, who uses a housing to protect your downlead connections, the APS-13 has exposed wingnuts and a cheezy matching transformer. FM DXers are drawn to this model, DXers tend to own towers with large masts yet this thing will only accept smaller pipe.
Antennacraft TV antennas in the same size class and weight as the APS-13 tend to sell for about $80 to $100 and that’s probably what this thing is worth if it were a mass produced product. Being a limited production item I can see paying a premium but $200 plus shipping? DANG!!!! Let’s get this thing down to $129.95 where it belongs!
Enough of that. I’ll say this about the boys at APS. They DO have a good performer and I’m sorta glad I got caught up in the hype and bought one. It’s a DX antenna that’s easily in the top 3 FM antennas on the planet when it comes to forward gain and side/rear rejection. So, if you DX and just gotta get one…get one. Just go into this deal knowing that it MIGHT come down in heavy wind or ice where a stouter antenna would survive. If you’re looking for an all around high performance antenna that performs almost as good, and will last forever, get a Winegard 6065. It’s less than half the price and built like a tank.

The APS-13 is a very good antenna design, maybe the best out there. Don’t get too excited yet because while the performance might be good, the quality is a bit substandard. I was shocked to see that my $200 APS-13 was nothing more than an overgrown $25.00 Radio Shack FM-6. APS could have taken the high road and gone to a decent antenna cutter but instead they chose RS/Antennacraft who is known for manufacturing things to a price rather than to a standard. This 200” monster is made with the same ¾” square boom as it’s 70” Rat Shack cousin. The result is an antenna that droops slightly under it’s own weight. You get the identical cheap, blue plastic hubs used on other RS antennas and the same thin elements that are very bendable. Unlike the Winegard 6065, who uses a housing to protect your downlead connections, the APS-13 has exposed wingnuts and a cheezy matching transformer. FM DXers are drawn to this model, DXers tend to own towers with large masts yet this thing will only accept smaller pipe.
Antennacraft TV antennas in the same size class and weight as the APS-13 tend to sell for about $80 to $100 and that’s probably what this thing is worth if it were a mass produced product. Being a limited production item I can see paying a premium but $200 plus shipping? DANG!!!! Let’s get this thing down to $129.95 where it belongs!
Enough of that. I’ll say this about the boys at APS. They DO have a good performer and I’m sorta glad I got caught up in the hype and bought one. It’s a DX antenna that’s easily in the top 3 FM antennas on the planet when it comes to forward gain and side/rear rejection. So, if you DX and just gotta get one…get one. Just go into this deal knowing that it MIGHT come down in heavy wind or ice where a stouter antenna would survive. If you’re looking for an all around high performance antenna that performs almost as good, and will last forever, get a Winegard 6065. It’s less than half the price and built like a tank.